Alternate Poison Study
by Fanficgal357
Summary: Set after the Commander took over. Yelena discovered her soulfinder abilities at 16. After arguing with Rose she was tricked and sent to Ixia. The King had her locked up and put under a spell. When Valek decides to search the castle,what will he find?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: As all of you smart people may have realized, I do not own or have any right to the Study series. That privilege belongs to Maria V. Snyder. **

**AN: I found nothing wrong with the original series, this idea just came to me and I decided to give it a go. **

**Summary: Based after the Commander overthrew the King. After settling in at the castle, Valek decides to track down hidden rooms etc. that might compromise the Commanders rule. After he hears a rumour about a room that nobody can open, tucked away in the corner of the castle, he decides to find it and do the impossible open it. But can he handle what's inside? Alternate reality situation.**

**Yelena was never kidnapped and grew up in Sitia, discovering her Soulfinder abilities at age 16. After clashing with Rose on a number of occasions, she is sent to Ixia at age 18 under the pretense of a friendly delegation. In reality, Rose paid the King to use his magicians to lock her in a room under a sleeping spell, so that she would be a prisoner in her own body for years on end, until death. **

Chapter 1

Valek hurried to the Commander's room, hoping he wouldn't be too angry at his lateness. He had been hanging around the kitchen and servant's rooms again catching useful tidbits of information. While there he'd heard a mother telling her son about a hidden room in the castle. This had obviously intrigued him and he'd lost track of time. Now he was late for tasting the Commander's lunch. He came to the doors and pushed them open, striding through.

"Valek, I hope you have a good reason for being late. My lunch is cold." The Commander said from his desk, not looking up.

"Sorry sir," Valek replied quickly making his way over, he quickly took small bites and sipped the drink.

"Thank you Valek. Anything to report?"

"Nothing serious sir. I'm thinking of investigating a rumour though." Valek replied.

"A rumour?" the Commander finally looked up, eyebrow raised.

"Among the servants." Valek clarified.

"Servants?"

"I've told you before sir, they're better than my spy network."

"Well, as long as it doesn't distract you from your work." The Commander returned his gaze to the papers on his desk.

Valek left the room in a calmer state than he arrived in. He strode silently through the halls and back to his office/room. It had almost been 7 months since the overthrowing of the King and the Commanders take over. So far everything was going smoothly, apart from a few attempted rebellions by supporters of the King. There was still a lot to do, and although the castle had been generally searched, there were still rooms that had yet to be found and searched. It was entirely possible that the rumour about this so called 'impossible-to-open' room was true. He sat down at the desk and leant back in his chair for a second before turning his attention to his own paperwork. Looking at the stacks of folders on his desk he sighed. Work first, secret magic-room later. This was going to be a long night.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LINE BREAK 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

It had been a month. A month of work, spying, listening to servants and searching the castle for the hidden room. He'd found hidden rooms alright, passages too, but all had been easy to break into. A few lock picks and everything was revealed. Not like 'everything' was particularly special. A lot of the rooms had weapons, precious gems and various other items. Anything from Sitia was regarded with caution and most often destroyed. He was at his desk again, staring unseeingly at the papers in front of him. He had managed to gain little information on the place or the contents of the room he was searching for. There were various versions of the story, ranging from a room filled with magical items, expensive items and gold, and one even told about a dangerous criminal locked in the room.

"This is so frustrating!" He picked up one of the rocks at his desk and through it at the wall.

Valek got up and strode out onto the balcony. It was dark outside, either late at night or early in the morning. The cold wind cleared his head of every thought except one. Find that room. Listening to his instincts often paid off, so he did what he always did. He followed them. He moved swiftly and silently through the halls towards a corner of the castle. Valek started at the top and worked at doors methodically searching each one for any clues. He was just finishing the bottom level when he passed a branch of hallway he hadn't gone down before. In fact, he'd never really noticed it at all. As he moved further down the dark corridor he recognized the feeling he was getting. Magic. His resistance pushed against it and he was able to slowly continue. After what seemed like hours, Valek finally made it to the end, sweaty and tired but triumphant. There was a door and after trying the handle and finding it was locked, he bent down and pulled out his lock picks that he always kept on hand. It took a while to open the complex and magically enhanced lock, but he finally heard the click he was listening for. Valek put the picks away and stood up.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered under his breath.

He pushed against the wall of magic that seemed to embody the room inside and opened the door.

**AN: First chapter done! R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: As all of you smart people may have realized, I do not own or have any right to the Study series. That privilege belongs to Maria V. Snyder. **

**Summary: Based after the Commander overthrew the King. After settling in at the castle, Valek decides to track down hidden rooms etc. that might compromise the Commanders rule. After he hears a rumour about a room that nobody can open, tucked away in the corner of the castle, he decides to find it and do the impossible open it. But can he handle what's inside? Alternate reality situation.**

**Yelena was never kidnapped and grew up in Sitia, discovering her Soulfinder abilities at age 16. After clashing with Rose on a number of occasions, she is sent to Ixia at age 18 under the pretense of a friendly delegation. In reality, Rose paid the King to use his magicians to lock her in a room under a sleeping spell, so that she would be a prisoner in her own body for years on end, until death. **

_Valek put the picks away and stood up. _

"_Here goes nothing." He muttered under his breath._

_He pushed against the wall of magic that seemed to embody the room inside and opened the door._

Chapter 2

Valek was shocked. And seeing as he was who he was, he was often not shocked. In the middle of the room was a bed, and on the bed was a girl. He moved closer, struggling against the jelly like feel of the air in the room. She was quite beautiful, seemingly of Sitian heritage, with her long black hair and tanned skin. After a closer look Valek realized she was older than he thought, possibly in her late teens or early twenties, only a few years younger than himself. She was wearing a long, soft blue dress with long sleeves, and that hugged her curves. At the last thought, he lightly blushed. With slight hesitation he reached out, through the magic, and lightly touched her hand.

With an almost audible 'pop' the magic in the room vanished. Valek stumbled slightly, dizzy from the sudden lightness of the air. When he regained his composure and managed to look back at the girl- well woman really- he was startled to find emerald green eyes staring at him.

"Where am I?" she said in a hoarse voice, and then coughed putting a hand to her throat.

Valek moved to help her sit up. "You're at the Commander's castle in Ixia." He replied. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm Yelena," she replied and put a hand to her head, frowning, "The King…his magicians…they…and Rose…that bitch!" her sudden angry outburst made Valek smile mentally, but he was still confused and nothing she was saying made much sense. "Where's my stuff? And the King? I'm going to kill him." Yelena said struggling against Valek's hold and glanced around the room.

"Sorry. You're a bit late. The King's already dead, as are his magician's and supporters." Valek replied and her struggles ceased. "The Commander and his supporters overthrew them about 7 months ago."

"The Commander? Yes… I remember hearing about him. So he did it huh?" she blinked at him, "Who are you?"

"I'm Valek. I work for the Commander. So…do you mind explaining more clearly why you were in here?"

"Oh right. The King and his magicians put me under a sleeping spell, probably at the request of Rose Featherstone. What year is this?"

Valek responded to her question automatically, while his brain processed this new information. Who was she to incite such a reaction out of the first magician of Sitia and the King of Ixia?

"Three years." Yelena whispered, "My family…my friends…they must think I'm dead."

"Hey… sorry. How old are you anyway."

"21. I was 18 when I came here with a Sitian delegation." She replied, "You wouldn't happen to have any jobs I could do here would you? Since the first magician practically tried to kill me, I'm not really comfortable going back to Sitia."

'If the King and his magicians managed to spell her so easily, she can't be a magician herself' Valek reasoned with himself. "What did you do in Sitia?"

"I helped the council with relations between Ixia and Sitia, worked in the stables a bit, I've been trained on different herbs and how to make medicines and detect poisons-" She was interrupted by Valek, "Poison's?"

Yelena nodded in response. "My dad uses plants in his inventions and my mum makes perfumes, it was kind of necessary for me to learn."

"Well normally we offer the job of food taster to the next to be executed, but since Oscove died no one has taken the job and it's fallen to me to do it. The Commander wants someone else as fast as possible because I'm always late and his meals get cold. How about you become the new food taster and help me out as my assistant sometimes. "

Yelena seemed to consider this and was quiet for a few moments. Then she shrugged, "Sure sounds good. What do you do normally anyway?"

"I'm the Commander's chief adviser and chief of security."

"Right…" she said looking at him seriously. Obviously she was well acquainted with terms for 'spymaster'. Yelena swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched, then suddenly smiled when she spotted something. Valek followed her line of sight and saw a chest in the corner of the room. Yelena went over and opened it. There appeared to be some clothes, a few letters and some other things. She turned to me and smiled.

"Do you mind waiting outside? I'm just going to get changed."

"Sure, and then I can take you to meet the Commander and get settled." Valek replied and went outside, closing the door behind him.

**AN: Hey just a quick question. What do you think Yelena should change into? She's not really a dress kind of girl so pants and top? Nutty's clothes? Robes from the keep? R&R please.**


	3. AN

**Sorry guys but this isn't a chapter. I wanted to let you know that unfortunately I won't be able to update for a while. And by while I mean not until later this year or even the beginning of next year. I'm in my last year of high school and already swamped with work. I did try to make time for writing but it just isn't working out. I AM NOT ABANDONING MY STORIES! Just making that clear. So they are all currently on hiatus. Sorry again, but I look forward to returning later.**

**Love always, Fanficgirl**

**xoxo**


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